He sighed and shook his head, then turned and walked into the cold and lonely shop behind him. On the upper edge of the shop door, there was a wooden plaque nailed to it: Mana Tide.
"Augustus actually started the ceremony... I didn't expect this. Although this was also my original purpose... I was really surprised by how sudden it was."
The young man called "Mr. Shattuck" came into the relatively clean reception room and paced back and forth, but his steps and expression did not reveal any anxiety, only calmness and leisure.
It was as if everything that happened here had nothing to do with him.
"However, what surprised me even more was... a place like this actually had a strong person hiding who could defeat my Lord's will to come?"
He paused in the reception room, raised his head slightly, stared at the ceiling with unfocused pupils, and the magnificent image of stars covering the sky gradually emerged in his mind.
"That sight... is the 'Connected Ashes', an Ashes of Connection whose domain is completely different from that of my Lord... Could it be that the one who made the move is a 'God's Messenger'? Among the clergy, only God's Messengers can summon and control the Connected Ashes..."
Clerics, like other types of extraordinary beings, can be divided into five major realms.
From low to high, they are "General Believers", "Prayers for Mercy", "Elucidators", "Saints", and at the top of the list...
"Angel of God".
As the name suggests, they are the messengers of gods, who are favored by gods and endowed with partial divinity by the main gods. They are the spokespersons of gods who can exercise the authority of the main gods to a certain extent and represent the will of the main gods.
It is the greatest being that is closest to the realm of God, and can even enter and exit the kingdom of God opened up by its main god independently.
It's a living myth.
Even the Grace Church, the largest of the nine churches, has less than five "Emissaries of God". Pope Garcia Lu is one of them.
"Haha, if that strange connected ash hadn't suddenly appeared, my Lord's coming wouldn't have failed... A sacred attack of the level of 'Sunfire Judgment' alone wouldn't be able to damage my Lord's incarnation.
"After all, only divinity can fight against divinity... and the 'Ashes of Connection', which is the extension of the power of the gods, is the existence with the richest divinity besides the gods themselves."
He looked away, his well-kept face showing a hint of doubt: "As far as I know, in a town of this size, at most there are priests at the level of 'Elucidator' left in the church... Could it be that a strong man from the Holy Church happened to pass by?"
"No, that's not right. They are not from the Church of Grace. The Ashes of Connection in the 'Sun' realm are definitely not like that..." As soon as this conjecture came up, he shook his head to reject it.
"The starry sky... the stars... what field are these connected ashes from? I've never seen them before..." He began to pace back and forth again, and this time his pace was a little faster.
Suddenly, his steps stopped.
Those eyes that seemed to be always indifferent gradually opened wider.
"I have never seen a field before..."
"An area you haven't seen before?"
“I’ve never seen a field before!”
His expression suddenly became serious, and he quickly left the reception room and walked into another room in the club.
"If... it really is another realm that does not belong to the Nine Lords, then... the strong man who took action was not a priest! But, but..."
This is a study room of medium size. There are not many books, both new and old, piled on the wooden bookshelf.
Old Mr. Shattuck casually reached out his hand and took out the book he needed, holding it in his hand and quickly flipping through it.
"Yes... this is it." Soon, his flying fingers stopped, and the pages that were flipping at high speed stopped at one side:
"The fifth realm of a mage transcends traditional magic, and touches upon authority and divinity, a half-human, half-god existence...
"Miracle Master."
"I didn't expect that such a person really existed." He closed the book and suddenly smiled. "This is extremely important information, even more important than the failure of the 'plan'. I must report it to 'Big Brother' immediately."
"Besides, the lackeys of the Grace Church are almost here." He turned his head and looked in one direction. There was only the wall of the study, but he seemed to be able to see through it. "I must retreat..."
A few minutes later, Mr. Shattak, dressed in a new outfit, walked out of the club.
He was wearing light, easy-to-move close-fitting clothing and carrying a large bag that was stuffed full and looked bulging.
"Let's go! I don't know when my Lord's keepsake can be recovered. I hope Big Brother can give me some help... But at least my Lord's divine fragments have definitely returned to my Lord. So even though this operation was unsuccessful, it's not a loss..."
He walked slowly towards the outskirts of the city, strolling leisurely, like a traveler who was at peace with the world.
It seems that he is not worried at all that the "token" he mentioned would fall into the hands of others and lead to consequences that are unfavorable to him.
Another hour or two later, a dazzling golden light suddenly streaked across the western sky, drawing a smooth trajectory and flying towards Stio.
The stream of light went straight over the vast mountains and farmlands, and flew at an extremely fast speed towards the central area which had already been in chaos.
More than two hours had passed since the crisis was resolved. The nobles, who were frightened by the series of unprecedented phenomena, walked out of their basements, which were more than ten meters deep, one after another, and timidly sent people to the center of the incident - the Lion Craftsman Villa District to inquire about the situation.
In the center of the central area, the church that symbolizes the center of power in Stiol is no longer as sacred as before. The wreckage and debris on the ground have tainted its holiness and dignity.
A few hundred meters north of the church, stands a stone building that looks like a castle.
It is taller, wider, and more majestic than any aristocratic mansion, and its gray and black tones exude a heavy sense of oppression.
Lord Stio, the residence of Viscount Cobb Double-Headed Axe!
The stream of light flew across a distance of several thousand meters in a blink of an eye and directly hit the open space between the lord's mansion and the church. It did not slow down at all, but did not make any sound, and not even a trace of dust was splashed.
The moment the light fell to the ground, the golden light quickly faded, revealing three men and women wrapped in it.
They wore white and gold monk robes with the same shape and pattern as Rosago, and triangular priest hats of the same color, with golden three-dimensional patterns embroidered on them, which were luxurious, elegant and holy.
Powerful spiritual fluctuations emanated from these three people, and they were all clergymen at the level of "Explanator"!
"My three lords, we have been waiting for a long time."
Cobb Double Axe, the lord of a city and a viscount, was dressed in formal attire and bowed respectfully to the three people in front of him. His flabby face was covered with beads of sweat from fear.
The leading expounder was a middle-aged man with a solemn face and a serious expression. He said in a very serious tone:
"Viscount Double-Headed Axe, the seriousness of the situation cannot be underestimated. You must explain everything you know."
[Volume 1: Building the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth from Scratch - First Half Completed]
Summary, reflections, and leave request for the first volume
The first volume has finally come to an end after 103 chapters. In the practice of more than words, I have also summed up a lot of experience and lessons.
First of all, the rhythm. I originally planned to write a dozen chapters at most for the entire first volume, but the more I wrote, the more I wrote, and with various sudden inspirations, I expanded it to the current length.
I do have an outline, but it’s easy to go off track as I write, and in the end I just stop paying much attention to it.
In addition, sometimes I would involuntarily fall into a state of self-satisfaction and accidentally write too many unnecessary psychological descriptions and settings, which resulted in the pace in the early stage being too slow, with only two days passing in the story of more than fifty chapters.
This makes it difficult to develop the plot. Because the protagonist encountered a lot of events and took a lot of actions in just a few days, the villain didn't even have time to react. In order to prevent the story from being too simple and crude, I could only promote the plot by setting up coincidences.
I will try my best to correct this problem in subsequent plots, and focus on areas that are more relevant to the advancement of the main storyline.
The second is about the writing style and structure. I also realized that I am not good at writing suspense and mystery plots, or in other words, I lack the ability to make the "conspiracy" emerge from the fog of trickery in a manner that is emotionally infectious enough.
This is my shortcoming on the narrative level, which also led to the fact that although there are many foreshadowings and hidden threads in the first volume, and the overall atmosphere is suspenseful, when it comes to the final stage of retracting the foreshadowing and revealing the truth, I can basically only narrate in a straightforward manner and fail to write out the shocking feeling when the truth is revealed.
Of course, in addition to the lack of narrative ability, all this is also caused by the lack of design of the trick itself.
All in all, it’s my inability.
Towards the end of the first volume, I felt noticeably tired: I had set up too many and too complicated character relationships, and laid too many foreshadowings, which made it difficult for me to begin when I wanted to wrap up all the side and hidden plots.
In the end, I could only choose to keep switching perspectives and try to retract the foreshadowing and hidden threads laid out in the previous text.
Although I have tried my best to only show the foreshadowing and hidden threads that are highly relevant to the main storyline, and put those that are relatively minor aside for the time being, it still resulted in the protagonist being offline for too long.
I deeply feel that creation is not easy and that my own writing skills are insufficient.
The first volume ends here, but Stio's story is far from over.
On the map of Stio, there are still too many foreshadowings that have not been resolved, too many suspenses that have not been solved, and too many ideas that have not been written down.
Why did the emblem of the Order of Saint Hydra appear in Iris Manor, why did old Mr. Shatak choose Baron Lionsmith, how did Baron Lionsmith get the "token" and where the "token" went, what were the partial memories that Qi Ji awakened in the final battle, what was the situation of the Hodge-Tong Zhongfei family and Lord Stio's Viscount Double-Headed Axe, whose presence has always been very low, what was the reaction of all parties including Luncy after the war... and so on.
There are too many clues that have not been completed, so if you go to the table of contents and take a look at the title of the first volume, you will find that I temporarily added the suffix "first half" to the title.
This means that a future volume will have the same title as the first volume, but with the suffix "Second Half".
It shouldn’t be too long, I guess it will be the third volume.
The story background of the second volume will no longer be Stio, and I will adopt another narrative method, a new method that may be able to improve the straightforward puzzle-solving method.
As for the effect, please wait and see.
The current average subscription is 400, which means that there are hundreds of people reading my humble work. When I think of this fact, I, a complete newbie, feel honored.
This is the first time I have written a formal online article, so there are many shortcomings... I do not ask for understanding or forgiveness, but only ask that you leave your valuable suggestions and ideas in the comments or comments before removing this book from the bookshelf.
Finally, although the second volume may not be very large, the plot structure may be more complicated. I must organize the outline, straighten out my thoughts, and adapt to new narrative techniques.
You must also rest.
Therefore, there will be only one update today, and you don’t have to wait until evening.
Starting tomorrow, I will resume posting twice a day, and additional updates will be as usual.
Volume 2: The Melting Sea at Dusk
Chapter 104 A new journey
《Tragedy! A family massacre occurred at the Stio Lionsmith's mansion. The respected Baron Augustus Lionsmith and his innocent only son Lanchester died tragically! ——The Grace Church said it would conduct a thorough investigation! 》
In the bustling cafe, a solitary short figure sat in an inconspicuous corner, as if deliberately staying away from the crowd.
The figure was wearing a cloak and her face could not be seen, but judging from the jade-like arms occasionally exposed from under the cloak, it could be judged that this was a very young girl.
"News spreads really fast..."
Qi Ji was holding a large newspaper in his hand and murmuring. His voice was clean and ethereal, yet with a hint of childishness, and was very endearing.
No one would have expected that such a little girl, who was still extremely lovable even though her appearance was mostly obscured by a cloak, had actually prevented the evil god from coming a few days ago.
"As expected, the truth has been blocked... How can it be blocked? More than 10,000 people in the city have seen it..."
With some doubts in her mind, she quickly read the report in the newspaper and soon understood.
"A terrorist attack? That's a good excuse... but few people know the actual situation."
Although there were many witnesses at the time, only a few knew that it was Augustus himself who was performing the sacrifice to the evil god.
Apart from Rosago and the seven church knights who died without any testimony, only Luncy, a few nobles, Friant and others knew about it.
Friong and his companions were members of a foreign caravan, so it was relatively easy to get rid of them; not to mention the few nobles who knew the inside story. With a gag order from the church, who would dare to disobey?
As for Lunxi... Qi Ji hasn't figured out yet what reasons the church used to convince her... but there's no need to worry too much.
Although Lunxi is a little naive, he is not stupid at all. He can distinguish between what is bravery and what is reckless.
After a night of conversation with Qi Ji, I believe she will be able to figure out what temporary compromises she needs to make in order to better practice her justice.
As for the tens of thousands of ordinary residents of Stio, whether they are adventurers, merchants, and middle-class people in the North District, small vendors and workers in the East District, or homeless people, beggars, and bonded laborers in the South District...
They can all be fooled by using excuses like "illusion" or "weather magic".
After all, except for a very small number of people who suffered certain losses due to the storm that just started, the vast majority of ordinary residents were not greatly affected.
If they have not suffered substantial losses, not many people would be so curious and eager to talk that they cannot restrain themselves, and not many people would not be experts at pretending to be confused.
"Alas... the story of Stio has come to an end."
With a slight sigh, she put down the newspaper, picked up the half-cold coffee on the table, and took a few sips.
She started a new journey again.
"Glory to the Plantagenet Empire..."
Looking through the not-so-wide windows, a building with a style completely different from that of Stio comes into view.
This is a small border town of the glorious Plantagenet Empire. It is Qi Ji’s temporary resting place after two days of travel.
There was a reason why she did not choose to continue staying in the Templar State, but instead fled to the Empire where the cultural environment was even more unfamiliar.
Firstly, the distance is relatively close, and one can reach its territory by following the trading path and crossing the Great Forest of the East.
Secondly, she didn't think that the officials from the Higher Church would so easily believe that she was dead after arriving in Stio.
For such a serious incident, Grace Holy Church will definitely investigate it thoroughly without missing any details.
If they cannot see the body with their own eyes, even if they announce openly that "Sharon, the heroic magic fighter who participated in the battle to save Stio, has passed away," these people will secretly collect all traces of her within their sphere of influence.
If Qi Ji continued to stay in the Holy Temple, it would be difficult for him not to be discovered by the church's informants planted all over the country.
She didn't believe that the Grace Holy Church, as the actual ruler of a country and most likely blessed by a god, would not have this level of intelligence gathering capabilities.
